Ukraine: Yanukovych ordered snipers to shoot

ASSOCIATED PRESS

April 4, 2014 12:01 AM

7AP

ASSOCIATED PRESS

April 4, 2014 12:01 AM

KIEV, Ukraine -- Ukraine's interim authorities on Thursday accused fugitive President Viktor Yanukovych of ordering snipers to open fire on protesters and getting help from Russian security agents to battle his own people.

But they could not provide evidence directly linking him to the bloodbath in Kiev that left more than 100 people dead.

Acting Interior Minister Arsen Avakov also accused his predecessor, who was in charge of police, of recruiting gangs of killers, kidnappers and thugs to terrorize and undermine the opposition during the monthslong protests.

The inquiry revealed by Kiev's new leadership examined the months of anti-government protests that culminated in the bloodshed that peaked on Feb. 20, just days before Yanukovych fled to Russia.

Speaking at a televised news conference, Avakov said police snipers shot at demonstrators near Kiev's Independence Square, also known as the Maidan, as they walked toward the government district.

He said 17 people were killed by snipers positioned at the October Palace cultural center and that one sniper alone killed as many as eight people.

Security officials then moved to cover up and destroy evidence "to ensure that any investigations would be impossible," Avakov said. "Clothes were burned, weapons discarded and documents destroyed."

Ukrainian Security Service chief Valentyn Nalyvaichenko charged that Yanukovych himself ordered the killings.